Historical Background

•                                                                       

                                         Franz Joseph Muller               Martin Heinrich Klaproth

                                                     

o   Story of Discovery:

     Who: Franz Joseph Müller von Reichenstein

     Where: Transylvania

     When: 1782

     Tellurium was probably first found in the mid-eighteenth century by Hungarian chemist Joseph Ramacsaházy in a Romanian gold mine. However, he assumed it to be “unripe gold”. (Chemists of the time thought gold was the last stage of metal growth). At the time, not much research took place on the new element (BooksRags.com).

     Later in 1782, Franz Joseph Müller von Reichenstein, a Romanian chief mine inspector, discovered tellurium in an ore of gold in Transylvania and attempted to analyze it. Originally, he thought it to be antimony. (Some sources say he thought it to be bismuth sulfide, not antimony.) But in 1783, after conducting several tests, he realized it was not antimony, but a new unknown element. However, this discovery was soon forgotten (Heiserman).

     In 1789, the renowned chemist Martin Heinrich Klaproth continued Muller's work on the new element and successfully isolated it. Klaproth wrote a paper on the discovery, in which he gave Muller full credit, and read it before the Berlin Academy of Sciences in 1798. Klaproth named the new substance Tellurium (Heiserman).

o   Root: Tellurium comes from the Latin root "tellus" for "earth".

o   Tellurium in the 1960's: In the 1960's, Tellurium began to be used for thermoelectric applications and was also used in free-machining steel.

o   Tellurium in the 21^st century: Now, Tellurium is used for various purposes, some of which are mentioned below. (see compounds & uses for more)

           - Tellurium is added to copper and stainless steel to improve its usability in machinery.

             -  Compounds of tellurium are used as colorings for ceramics, glass, and enamel.

             -  Tellurium is added to lead to improve strength and slow corrosion of lead due to  H₂SO₄.

             -  Tellurium is one of the basic ingredients in blasting caps.

             -  Tellurium is added to cast iron to keep it at a low temperature.

             -  Bismuth telluride is used in thermoelectric devices.

images from:

www.seilnacht.com/Lexikon/klaproth.JPG

www.supss.clnet.cz/historie/ pic/franzmuller.jpg